Monday, June 30, 2008

Syria Denies Nukes

Syria's foreign minister on Monday repeated his country's denials that a site bombed by Israel last year was a nascent nuclear reactor but said he wished his country had such a program to counter Israel's nuclear might.

U.N. nuclear inspectors visited the site in northern Syria last week to investigate U.S. allegations that Syria was hiding elements of a potential nuclear arms program.

Olli Heinonen, a deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said he was satisfied with what was achieved on the four-day trip but that "there is still work that needs to be done" in following up on the claims.

Syrian authorities imposed a virtual news blackout on the inspectors' trip, and few details of the visit have surfaced beyond the fact that Syrian authorities allowed the three-man inspecting team to visit the Al Kibar site, which Israeli jets targeted in September. Syria has said the site was a non-nuclear military facility.

"As a Syrian citizen, I think that had Syria had such a secret program, it wouldn't have allowed inspectors to visit the site....This is logic," Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said at a joint news conference in Damascus with his Norwegian counterpart, Jonas Gahr Stoere.

If that’s the case, please explain these pictures, which show a nuclear reactor being built?

http://www.rightwinglunatic.com/2008/04/syrian-vows-to-cooperate-with-iaea-over.html

Also, please explain to me your recent denial of unfettered access to ALL facilities that the IAEA has requested?

Yeah…didn’t think so.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Obama And Bill

Former President Bill Clinton and Barack Obama talked by phone Monday morning, representatives of both sides said, as the Democrats sought to quash rumors that Clinton holds a grudge against the man who knocked his wife out of contention for the party's presidential nomination.

Obama called Clinton and they spoke for about 20 minutes Monday morning, the Obama campaign told CNN.

Clinton wants to campaign "with and for" Obama after the hard-fought primary campaign between Obama and Hillary Clinton, Clinton spokesman Matt McKenna said. Clinton "renewed his offer to do whatever he can to ensure Sen. Obama is our next president."

Obama "had a terrific conversation with President Clinton and is honored to have his support in this campaign," Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said.

I wonder which knee Obama was on when he puckered up?

But his lingering fury has shocked his friends. The Democrat told the Telegraph: "He's been angry for a while. But everyone thought he would get over it. He hasn't. I've spoken to a couple of people who he's been in contact with and he is mad as hell.

"He's saying he's not going to reach out, that Obama has to come to him. One person told me that Bill said Obama would have to quote kiss my ass close quote, if he wants his support.

"You can't talk like that about Obama - he's the nominee of your party, not some house boy you can order around.

I can see that this is going to be a lovefest like no other. :)

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Wesley Clark's Viewpoint

While I can applaud General Clark's service, I must severely disagree with the following statement:

Retired U.S. Gen. Wesley Clark, a supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, on Sunday questioned whether Sen. John McCain's military experience qualified him to be commander-in-chief.

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who ran for president in 2004, questioned John McCain's qualifications Sunday.

The McCain campaign called for Obama to condemn the remarks.

The dust-up began with Clark's appearance Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation," where moderator Bob Schieffer asked him about his interview with the Huffington Post earlier this month.

In the interview, Clark said McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, was "untested and untried."

When Schieffer asked to explain the comment, Clark said he was referring to McCain's experience, or lack thereof, in setting national security policies and understanding the risk involved in such matters.

"I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in the armed forces, as a prisoner of war. And he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn't held executive responsibility," said Clark, a former NATO commander who campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004.

"He hasn't been there and ordered the bombs to fall. He hasn't seen what it's like when diplomats come in and say, I don't know whether we're going to be able to get this point through or not," Clark said.

Schieffer noted that Obama did not have any of those experiences, nor had he "ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down."

"Well, I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president," Clark said.

Well those are certainly powerful words.  You'd think that General Clark's thoughts on that would be the same, i.e., military experience does not qualify you for the White House.

But let's take a look at what General Clark said about John Kerry.

This is a speech given by General Clark on July 29th, 2004:

Enough is enough! A safe America - a just America - that's what we want, that's what we need. And with John Kerry and John Edwards, that's what we will achieve.

John Kerry has lived the values of service and sacrifice. In the Navy, as a prosecutor, as a senator. He proved his physical courage under fire. He's proved his moral courage, too. John Kerry fought a war and came home to fight for peace - his combination of physical courage and moral values is my definition of what we need in a Commander-in-Chief.

And John Edwards, with his leadership and competence, will be a great member of this command team. John Kerry is a man who - in times of war - can lead as a warrior, and who - in times of peace - will heed the call of scripture to beat swords into plowshares. John Kerry will lead America with strength and wisdom. He has the will to fight, and the moral courage born in battle to pursue and secure a strong peace.

Under John Kerry we will attack and destroy the terrorist threat to America. He'll join the pantheon of great wartime Democrats.

So, when it's the Democrats who have someone with military experience, they play it up and call them a "war hero".  When it is not, they play it down and say things like "riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president".

A tad hypocritical don't you think General Clark?  We all know who's side you are on politically, but let's at least be honest here:  You're playing down McCain's military experience because you know that if you try to denounce him any further then you already have, you'll alienate many voters.

So, do tell us General Clark, why is it that John Kerry has "proved his physical courage under fire", but McCain's 5 years as a POW any less of a qualification?  In fact, I'd like to hear how when offered, McCain turned down his chance to be released when others were there longer then him, doesn't show anything BUT leadership?

John Kerry is a man who - in times of war - can lead as a warrior, and who - in times of peace - will heed the call of scripture to beat swords into plowshares. John Kerry will lead America with strength and wisdom. He has the will to fight, and the moral courage born in battle to pursue and secure a strong peace.

Sounds an AWFUL lot like McCain, but we couldn't have you praising your fellow soldier now can we?  We mustn't let right and wrong get in the way of partisan politics.

You're being hypocritical AT BEST, you're being a partisan, political hack at worst.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Saturday, June 28, 2008

OPEC Is Lying To You

OPEC President Chakib Khelil predicted that the price of oil will climb to $170 a barrel before the end of the year, citing the dollar's decline and political conflicts.

``Oil prices are expected to reach $170 as demand for fuel is growing in the U.S. during the summer period and the dollar continues to weaken against the euro,'' Khelil said today in a telephone interview. The leader of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries also serves as Algeria's oil minister.

Bullshit. 

Americans drove 1.4 billion fewer highway miles in April than they did in April 2007, the Department of Transportation said Wednesday.

Americans have driven 20 billion fewer miles overall this year, the Transportation Department says.

That marks the sixth consecutive monthly drop and coincides with record gas prices and an increase in transit ridership, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/tvtw/tvtpage.htm

Check out the above link.  It CLEARLY shows that "demand in the in the US" is declining.  They are using Chinese and Indian "demand" as an excuse to drive up prices.  They know damned good and well that the run up of prices has gotten out of control, and they clearly have crossed a line with consumers.  This is why you see major auto manufacturers pushing for electric and hybrid cars.

They try to use the declining value of the dollar as an excuse.  The dollar has fallen around 20% in the past few years, so, one would think that prices of oil would jump 20% respectively.

They are LYING TO YOU.  The only way to really break their grip on our economy is to develop cars that don't use gas AT ALL.  Compressed air is my personal favorite for a number of reasons.  I liked the idea of the Chevy Volt, but the first person to say "we'll get you from point A to point B all work week long without a DROP of gas", they are going to be VERY rich.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Friday, June 27, 2008

Gun Control Nuts Go….Nuts

Gun-control advocates across the country reacted with shock and outrage at the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the District of Columbia’s ban on handguns today, saying the ruling would threaten gun-control measures in other states.

If there was any doubt that other bans would be in peril, the National Rifle Association quickly put those questions to rest when it announced shortly after the ruling that it would file a flurry of lawsuits challenging restrictions in San Francisco, Chicago and several Chicago suburbs. The law in Washington, which spelled out rules for the storage of weapons and made it extremely difficult for most people in the district to legally possess a handgun, was among the strictest in the nation.

“I consider this the opening salvo in a step-by-step process of providing relief for law-abiding Americans everywhere that have been deprived of freedom,” Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president of the N.R.A., said in a statement.

In its 5-to-4 decision, the court ruled that the Constitution protects an individual’s right to own guns, not just the right of the states to maintain regulated militias. It also said that the District of Columbia’s requirement that lawful weapons be disassembled or limited by trigger locks was unconstitutional because it made them virtually useless.

In Chicago, Mayor Richard M. Daley, a staunch supporter of gun control, called the decision “frightening” and said he was bracing for a fight with the gun lobby, which has long criticized the city’s ban on the sale and registration of handguns for everyone but police officers and a handful of others. Enacted in 1982, the law was created in response to the murders of two police officers and the assassination attempt on former president Ronald Reagan.

“Does this lead to everyone having a gun in our society?” he said at a news conference. “If they think that’s the answer, then they’re greatly mistaken. Then, why don’t we do away with the court system and go back to the Old West? You have a gun and I have a gun and we’ll settle in the streets.

Hmm…someone please show me a place where guns are readily available to every law abiding citizen that has a high crime rate?  Show me a law on the books about gun control that WASN’T a knee jerk reaction?

Even Chicago’s law was a knee jerk reaction:

Enacted in 1982, the law was created in response to the murders of two police officers and the assassination attempt on former president Ronald Reagan.

The simple fact is, if you allow citizens to arm themselves, you have lesser crime rates and dead criminals who try anything funny.

We all remember when Florida enacted the “personal castle doctrine” law a few years ago that said you no longer have the requirement to flee if you’re being threatened.  Everyone said it was going to turn Florida into the “Wild West” with shootouts that would kill children.  Guess what?

It didn’t happen.

Every, single, time a gun law is passed that gives law abiding citizens more abilities about how they exercise their Second Amendment rights, Gun Control idiots always proclaim that there will be more shootings, more dead children, and little old ladies living in their homes with the doors locked out of fear.

And guess what?

It never happens that way.  It’s the same old tired argument that’s never true.  I’m surprised that no one else has called these people out on their line of bullshit.

I mean, how DARE people excercise rights that are GUARANTEED in the Constitution.  Gun Control people aren’t even smart enough to see the hypocritical nature of them using their First Amendment rights to try to hinder other people’s Second Amendment rights.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Democrats Spiteful? Nah!

A Democratic National Convention delegate pledged to Hillary Rodham Clinton says she hopes to fight off an attempt by Wisconsin Democrats to take away her credentials because of her past statement that she would vote for John McCain if Clinton wasn't the nominee.

"Keeping national delegate status is very important to me," Debra Bartoshevich said Thursday. "I believe that Hillary is the better candidate of all of them."

She declined to comment on her previous comment, quoted in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, that she would vote for the Republican McCain in November if the Democratic Party nominated Barack Obama for president.

Wisconsin Democratic party chairman Joe Wineke said Friday he's confident Bartoshevich won't be at the national convention. Wineke said it's clear Bartoshevich violated party rules by failing to honor a pledge of intent to vote for the party's presidential ticket in the fall.

Wineke added that Bartoshevich would not have been chosen to be a delegate if people had known beforehand that she would vote for McCain if Obama were nominated.

Bartoshevich told the newspaper she felt Clinton was being treated unfairly and she questioned Obama's experience. She also said she had signed up with "Citizens for McCain," encouraged by her sister, who has served in Iraq and backs the Republican.

That report came out just as Wisconsin Democrats were gathering for their state convention in Stevens Point on June 13, and the convention quickly approved a resolution to challenge Bartoshevich's status as a delegate to the Democratic convention in Denver in August.

"It's extremely important that we send a message that Democrats in the state of Wisconsin will never support somebody who supports John McCain for president," Wineke said at the time, to cheers from the hundreds of party activists.

Bartoshevich, 41, a registered nurse and mother of two from Waterford, said she got a copy Wednesday of the formal credentials challenge filed by the state party.

Among other things, it said she violated party rules by expressing support for the presumptive nominee of the opposing party and failing to honor a pledge of intent to vote for the party's presidential ticket in the fall.

That’s right folks.  It’s AGAINST THE RULES to vote for anyone other then a Democrat.  I seem to remember them bashing Republicans for “toeing the party line”.  Oh hypocrisy, thy name is Democrat.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Obama And Hillary Sitting In A Tree…

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said he bit his tongue “many times” during the fierce primary battle with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).

Two sources said that Obama’s comments came after Rep. Diane Watson (D-Calif.), a Clinton backer, told the Illinois senator that the Democratic Party needs time to heal.

“I bit my tongue many times. Many times. I bit my tongue many times http://www.newsli.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/hillary-obama.jpgduring this campaign,” Obama told his colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) last week during a private meeting. He repeated the “I bit my tongue” phrase three times during the meeting, the sources said.

If that’s the case, I can only imagine the fun he must be having here:

The long-awaited Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton unity event in Unity, New Hampshire, on Friday was carefully choreographed, with the images and speeches all designed to achieve one goal: returning Democrats to the White House.

Obama and Clinton appeared together in a town where they tied in the January primary.

"We may have started on separate paths ... today our hearts are set on the same destination for America ... to elect Barack Obama as the next president of the United States," Clinton said.

"We are one party; we are one America," she added.

The two Democrats walked onstage together to U2's song "Beautiful Day" as an enthusiastic crowd chanted: "Yes, we can!"

Is it love?  Is it something special?  You can only imagine the beautiful music they’ll make together.  :) 

Anyone else smell the fakery from Hillary?  I know I can.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Corruption In Congress

And I now have the proof!

Last week, on June 20, the House of Representatives approved a compromise bill to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA). The bill sets new electronic surveillance rules that effectively shield telecommunications companies from lawsuits resulting from the government’s warrantless eavesdropping on phone calls and viewing of emails of private citizens in the U.S. Approximately 40 lawsuits have been filed with potential damages totaling in the billions of dollars.

On March 14 of this year the House passed an amendment that rejected retroactive immunity for phone carriers who helped the National Security Agency carry out the illegal wiretapping program without proper warrants. Ninety-four House Democrats voted in favor of this measure--rejecting immunity--on March 14, then ‘changed’ to vote in favor of the June 20 House bill--approving immunity.

Why did these ninety-four House members have a change of heart?” asked Daniel Newman, executive director of MAPLight.org, “Their constituents deserve answers.”

Yes, they DO deserve answers.  It’s strictly against the Constitution to put a law on the books that’s retroactive.

US Constitution, Article 1, Section 9: No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

So, this “law” that they just passed for retroactive immunity for breaking the law and violating EVERYONE’s privacy is unConstitutional.

However, let’s take a look at the proof:

Comparing Democrats' Votes (March 14th and June 20th votes):

Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint gave PAC contributions averaging:

$8,359 to each Democrat who changed their position to support immunity for Telcos (94 Dems)
$4,987 to each Democrat who remained opposed to immunity for Telcos (116 Dems)

88 percent of the Dems who changed to supporting immunity (83 Dems of the 94) received PAC contributions from Verizon, AT&T, or Sprint during the last three years (Jan. 2005-Mar. 2008).

 

 

corruption

That’s right, coming in at number 7 is Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House.

So, let’s take a look at Nancy’s activities:

The Senate has already passed a FISA measure that includes the retroactive immunity provision, and Senate Republicans have vowed not to compromise on the issue. Bush has also promised to veto any legislation that reaches his desk that doesn't include immunity. On Thursday, he said a vote for the House bill "would make our country less safe."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rebuffed him, saying: "The president is wrong, and he knows that."

Well, that sounds like Nancy’s lying right?  But, here’s where it gets REALLY interesting:

Beyond the FISA bill's evisceration of the rule of law, the Fourth Amendment and surveillance safeguards, what has always been so striking with this controversy has been how transparently sleazy and corrupt it reveals the Congress to be. Right out in the open, telecoms have just led Congressional supporters of telecom immunity around like little puppets. It's just amazing -- though extremely common -- that while negotiations over the bill occurred in total secrecy, with civil liberties groups and the public at large being completely excluded, Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer "negotiated" directly with the telecoms over how the telecoms' amnesty bill should be written.

Wasn’t she the one who said she would “get rid of the culture of corruption”?  It’s pretty clear that not only did she not, she became a part of it, and sold out American’s Constitutional rights.

Now, I have many, MANY liberal readers, and I get a lot of hate mail from them, but tell me, where’s your screams for justice?  Are you so blinded by Bush hatred that you can’t see corruption within your own ranks?  Why do you suppose she isn’t doing anything about Dodd’s cozy relationship and sweetheart deal with Countrywide, all the while, he’s pushing for a $300 BILLION DOLLAR BAILOUT of them and other companies who made poor business judgements?

Call for her impeachment, otherwise you’ll all look like hypocrites and you’ll be getting the Congress you deserve.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Obama As A “Leader”

John McCain welcomed a Supreme Court decision invalidating a District of Columbia handgun ban. Barack Obama sought to straddle the subject by saying he favors an individual's right to bear firearms as well as a government's right to regulate them.

The hotly contentious issue surfaced in the presidential campaign Thursday after the Supreme Court ruled that Americans have a constitutional right to own guns and struck down the 32-year-old D.C. ban.

McCain, the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting, heralded the justices' action as "a landmark victory for Second Amendment freedom."

Voicing a stance that could help him woo conservatives and libertarians, McCain said, "This ruling does not mark the end of our struggle against those who seek to limit the rights of law-abiding citizens. We must always remain vigilant in defense of our freedoms."

His Democratic rival, Obama, issued a more carefully worded statement apparently aimed at both moderate voters and his liberal base. The statement from Obama, who has long said local governments should be able to regulate guns, did not specifically say whether Obama agreed with overturning the specific D.C. ban. But he said Thursday's ruling "will provide much-needed guidance to local jurisdictions across the country."

"I have always believed that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to bear arms, but I also identify with the need for crime-ravaged communities to save their children from the violence that plagues our streets through commonsense, effective safety measures," Obama said.

What a courageous stance you’re taking Obama!  You’re basically trying to have it both ways.  A leader makes a decision based upon the facts in front of him.  Instead, you’re trying to not piss off anyone on either side of the issue.  That makes you a coward at best.

Study after endless studies have shown that areas where gun control is at a high level, crime flourishes.  Where it isn’t, it doesn’t.  It’s a simple fact;  If criminals think someone might be armed, they will be less likely to try to make that person a victim of a crime.

You, on the other hand, would rather take the guns out of peoples hands, including your stance on trying to ban semi-automatic weapons.

Funny how you chide President Bush for “taking away your rights”, but you don’t seem to have a problem trying to take away mine.  That makes you a hypocrite.

You even contradict yourself within one sentence:

Obama said his view was supported by the court's ruling that the Constitution does not permit "the absolute prohibition of handguns." That language "reinforces that if we act responsibly, we can both protect the constitutional right to bear arms and keep our communities and our children safe," Obama said.

If there’s no “absolute prohibition of handguns”, then that in of itself means that you can’t restrict them, which is something that you are talking about when you talk about “keeping our communities and our children safe”.

We’re talking about a fundamental right here Obama, like Freedom of Speech, Religion, and to peaceably assemble.

Yet, you don’t seem to see the similarities.

You like to bring out the same old, tired “won’t someone think of the children” act.

But even other people are starting to notice your bit of lying:

The Democrat's campaign said a spokesman made an "inartful" statement when he said in November that Obama believed the D.C. law was constitutional. But Obama himself did not correct a debate moderator who repeated the position in February.

"You said in Idaho recently, I'm quoting here, 'I have no intention of taking away folks' guns.' But you support the D.C. handgun ban and you've said that it's constitutional," said the moderator, Leon Harris of Washington television station WJLA. Obama nodded as Harris spoke, nodding and saying, "Right, right."

"How can you reconcile those two different positions?" Harris asked.

Obama answered that the United States has conflicting traditions of gun ownership and street violence that results from illegal handgun use. "So, there is nothing wrong, I think, with a community saying we are going to take those illegal handguns off the streets," Obama said.

The Obama campaign argued that Obama was simply acknowledging the question by saying "right."

So, you’ve been proven to support bans on semi-automatic weapons, which is a standard feature of just about any weapon made today, AND you didn’t correct someone when they asked you about your statement about the DC handgun ban being Constitutional.

You’re lying.

Campaigning in Cincinnati, McCain claimed Obama has reversed course on the issue. Obama told FOX Business Network that he's been consistent.

You’re even lying there.  You’re NOT being consistent.  You’re saying one thing, but doing another.  That’s not the kind of “change” that people who are your supporters are believing.  They think you’re almost heaven sent.

I get the feeling that you’re just another Democrat, circa 2006.  You’ll make a bunch of pretty speeches, denounce President Bush and Republicans in general, and then, once in office, you’ll do nothing and try to coast your way through your term, losing support along the way.

I certainly hope I’m wrong, but let’s face it, if you follow the evidence, you’ll see I’m probably not.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Sore Losers

I don’t know about you, but when the Supreme Court rules that something’s unConstitutional, I tend to think “well shit.  I disagree, but the court overruled me”, and I move on with my life.

Unfortunately, we have sore losers, who don’t understand the rules.

First up, the death penalty for rape of a child.

Personally, if I find out that someone has raped a child in my life, I don’t know how I’d react.  I might call the police and let them deal with it, I might beat the person senseless, I may even kill them.  But I do believe that it’s a very slippery slope when you put people to death for anything other then treason, espionage, and murder.  Soon, you’ll have people saying “well, rape of a child gets the death penalty, what about rape of a full grown adult”?  And it will go on and on until we’re putting people to death for crimes that you wouldn’t think now would be death penalty cases.

Republican Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal called the ruling "incredibly absurd," "a clear abuse of judicial authority" and said officials will "evaluate ways to amend our statute to maintain death as a penalty for this horrific crime."

Oklahoma officials said they, too, weren't ready to give up, and would "certainly look at what options we have," state senator Jay Paul Gumm said. "I think the people of Oklahoma have spoken loudly that this is one of the most heinous of crimes."

The court ruled, and these people can’t seem to get it out of their head that they lost.  I’m very pro death penalty, I think everyone knows that, but this simply isn’t a crime that requires the death penalty.  Severe punishment?  Absolutely.  Announce the crime that this person committed to the general population of prison and see how long they last.

Second up, and this is my favorite:  Nancy Pelosi.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says that despite the Supreme Court decision to strike down its gun ban, the District of Columbia will still be able to regulate firearms.

"I think it still allows the District of Columbia to come forward with a law that’s less pervasive," Pelosi said at her weekly briefing Thursday. "I think the court left a lot of room to run in terms of concealed weapons and guns near schools."

You LOST Nancy.  Get it through your thick skull.  There’s no room for idiots like you who want to restrict the Constitutional rights of others.  If a person is a law abiding citizen, then they have the right to own a gun.  You may not like it, but statistics don’t lie.  DC was the murder capital of the US for a long time, DURING WHICH TIME THE BAN WAS IN PLACE.

So, people start to own guns, all of a sudden, crime goes down.  Ever wonder why there aren’t mass shootings at gun shows, police stations, or any place where guns are readily available to law abiding citizens?  It’s because we’re smart enough to police ourselves and take out a bad guy if he decides to act up.

You’re the worst kind of politician.  You LOST and you’re not even grown up enough to admit it.  You’re willing to ignore the Constitution when it doesn’t suit you, and point to it when it does.  Let’s not forget your hypocritical nature.

You were wanting even further torture of Al-Qaeda terrorists after 9/11, a meeting with notes as to who was there proves it.  However, when it became unpopular, you turned tail against those who were doing it.

You promised to get rid of the “culture of corruption”, yet you promoted a suspected, and let’s face it CORRUPT member of your own party who’s accused of accepting bribes.  So, in your infinite wisdom, you decide to promote William Jefferson to a post that allows him access to classified materials.  Good planning.

Then, you have Congress trying to push through a bill that would bail out lenders who made bad business choices.  One of your own Congressman Dodd, got a sweetheart deal from Countrywide, and he is pushing through this bill that would directly bail out Countrywide.  At the VERY least, you owe it to the American people to ask Dodd to step down for fear of conflict of interest.  You have failed to do so.

So until you get your act together, your opinion means exactly shit.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

4 Supreme Court Justices Are Too Stupid To Be There

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a sweeping ban on handguns in the nation's capital violated the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

A gun ownership supporter holds a placard in March outside the Supreme Court in Washington.

The justices voted 5-4 against the ban, with Justice Antonin Scalia writing the opinion for the majority.

At issue in District of Columbia v. Heller was whether Washington's ban violated the right to "keep and bear arms" by preventing individuals -- as opposed to state militias -- from having guns in their homes.

"Undoubtedly some think that the Second Amendment is outmoded in a society where our standing army is the pride of our nation, where well-trained police forces provide personal security and where gun violence is a serious problem," Scalia wrote. "That is perhaps debatable, but what is not debatable is that it is not the role of this court to pronounce the Second Amendment extinct."

Here’s the PDF of Justice Scalia’s opinion piece.

Now, one could argue about gun rights ALL DAY LONG, but the simple fact remains is that the Second Amendment specifically states:

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

That’s right, 4 Supreme Court Justices could not understand the meaning of that simple sentence.

SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED.

You have the right to own a firearm.  You have the right to do whatever you’d like with it, legally.  Liberals, listen up;  That means that someone can purchase a weapon, AND IT DOESN’T MATTER WHY.

That means, that your argument of “why do you need something like that” has been struck down.  You people, liberals I mean, like to tout the First Amendment all day long, but when it comes to the Second, you want to restrict it.  That’s hypocritical of the highest sort.

I own several weapons, and even if this ruling had gone the other way, I would not have given up my weapons (even though that wasn’t about this case).  I have the inalienable right to own a firearm, and I will own one until the day I die.

You NEED people like me in the United States.  We are your neighbors.  We are the ones who help you out when times get rough.  We are the ones who pull our weapons when bad guys are robbing a bank, mugging, or raping you.  And what’s worse, is how do you pay back everyday heroes like that?  You try to take their tools that they use to keep bad guys at bay.  Good plan idiots.

Here’s a list of Justices who tried to take away your Constitutional rights:

John Paul Stevens

David Hackett Souter

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Stephen G. Breyer

These people are THAT stupid.  God, I wish I were making this up.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Goodbye To A Childhood Friend

Kermit Love, the costume designer who helped puppeteer Jim Henson create Big Bird and other "Sesame Street" characters, has died. He was 91.

Costume designer Kermit Love helped puppeteer Jim Henson create characters on "Sesame Street."

Love died from congestive heart failure Saturday in Poughkeepsie, near his home in Stanfordville, Love's longtime partner, Christopher Lyall, told The New York Times.

In addition to his work with Henson, Love was a designer for some of ballet's most prominent choreographers, including Twyla Tharp, Agnes de Mille, Jerome Robbins and George Balanchine.

Love also designed costumes and puppets for film and advertising, including the Snuggle bear from the fabric softener commercials.

"Sesame Street," public television's groundbreaking effort to use TV to teach preschoolers, premiered in 1969. Henson designed the original sketches of Big Bird, and Love then built the 8-foot, 2-inch yellow-feathered costume.

It was Love's idea to add a few feathers designed to fall off, to create a more realistic feel.

"The most important thing about puppets is that they must project their imagination, and then the audience must open their eyes and imagine," he told The New York Times in 1981.

Love also helped design costumes and puppets for Mr. Snuffleupagus, Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster, among other characters. He even appeared on the show himself as Willy, the fantasy neighborhood's resident hot dog vendor.

But Love always insisted Henson's famous frog wasn't named for him, according to The New York Times.

Thanks for making my childhood magical every time I turned on Sesame Street Mr. Love.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Ok, So I Lied A Bit

I tried to get some things done and avoid posting, but John McCain made a small speech today and said some things that needed to be heard.

The Lexington Project.

In recent days I have set before the American people an energy plan, the Lexington Project Ð named for the town where Americans asserted their independence once before. And let it begin today with this commitment:Ê In a world of hostile and unstable suppliers of oil, this nation will achieve strategic independence by 2025.
This pledge is addressed to all concerned -- to those abroad whose power flows from an accident of geology, and to you, my fellow Americans, whose strength proceeds from unity of purpose. Together, we will break the power of OPEC over the United States. And never again will we leave our vital interests at the mercy of any foreign power.
Some will say this goal is unattainable within that relatively short span of years -- it's too hard and we need more time. Let me remind them that in the space of half that time -- about eight years -- this nation conceived and carried out a plan to take three Americans to the Moon and bring them safely home. In less than a third of that time, the gathered energies of my father's generation built the industrial might that overcame Nazi Germany and imperial Japan. That is the scale of our achievement when we set our minds to a task. That is what this country can do when we see a danger, and declare a purpose, and find the will to act.
As president, I will turn all the apparatus of government in the direction of energy independence for our country -- authorizing new production, building nuclear plants, perfecting clean coal, improving our electricity grid, and supporting all the new technologies that one day will put the age of fossil fuels behind us. Much will be asked of industry as well, as automakers and others adapt to this great turn toward new sources of power. And a great deal will depend on each one of us, as we learn to make smarter use of energy, and also to draw on the best ideas of both parties, and work together for the common good.
This Project is not a plan calibrated to please every interest group or to meet every objection. That is how we arrived to our present predicament. That is how energy policy in Washington became a long list of subjects avoided, options ruled out, and possibilities foreclosed. Nor can I promise you that the long-term success of this Project will bring instant relief.Ê In the mission of energy security, some tasks are the work of decades and some the work of years. And they will take all the will and resolve of which we are capable. But I can promise you this. Unless we begin this mission now, nothing will change at all, except for the worse. And when we succeed in the hard reform ahead, your children will live in a more prosperous country, in a more peaceful world.

That’s EXACTLY what I want to hear.  But better yet, that’s exactly what I want to have happen.  A massive government project that it’s only goal is energy independence within 20 years or less.

We can make it happen folks, we just need to have to want it to happen.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Break For Today

Hello all,

I’ve been absolutely slammed today, and I probably won’t get a chance to post.  If I do, I will, but as it looks right now, I might have to postpone until tomorrow.

As a side note, the Wordpress conversion is going pretty well.  Check it out over at http://www.rightwinglunatic.com/wp  and let me know if you have any comments or complaints.

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Guess Who’s Lying?

U.S. gasoline demand fell 2.7 percent last week, a sign motorists are cutting back on vacation plans as pump prices touch records, a MasterCard Inc. report today showed.

Consumers purchased an average 9.45 million barrels of gasoline a day in the week ended June 20, down from 9.71 million a year earlier, MasterCard, the second-biggest credit-card company, said in its weekly SpendingPulse report. It was the ninth consecutive week of declines from the year-earlier period.

So, when OPEC tells you that the demand is what’s causing the rise in price, you can tell them they are lying.  A 2.7% decrease in consumption in the US is enough to drop the price significantly.  But then, they’ll point to China and India, VASTLY smaller markets and try to blame everyone but themselves.

The sooner we break their backs of oil price gouging, the better.

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Guess What You And Just Paid For

A massive foreclosure rescue bill cleared a key Senate test Tuesday by an overwhelming margin, with Democrats and Republicans both eager to claim election-year credit for helping hard-pressed homeowners.

The mortgage aid plan would let the Federal Housing Administration back $300 billion in new, cheaper home loans for an estimated 400,000 distressed borrowers who otherwise would be considered too financially risky to qualify for government-insured, fixed-rate loans.

An 83-9 vote put the plan on track for Senate passage as early as Wednesday, but President Bush is threatening a veto, and Democrats are fighting each other over key details. Those challenges will probably delay any final deal until mid-July.

The bill advanced as separate reports underscored rising economic anxiety: Consumer confidence slid to its lowest level in more than 16 years, and closely watched indices showed a continuing decline in home values.

At the Capitol, Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., the Banking Committee chairman, said the lending measure "would allow us to begin to put a tourniquet on the hemorrhaging of foreclosures in this country."

"We need to demonstrate to people in this country that have lost an awful lot of faith in almost everything, but certainly in (Congress), that we can get something done, that we can put aside differences and make a difference in their lives," Dodd said.

That’s right.  The Banking Committee chairman, who got a sweetheart deal on his mortgage, is trying to push through legislation that would directly benefit the company who gave him the sweetheart deal.

AND, it would bail them out for idiotic loans that they made to people who didn’t qualify for normal loans.

Yep, you and I are about to spend $300 BILLION dollars, that’s about $1,000 for every man, woman, and child in the United States, to bail people out who bought WAY out of their means, lived up the high life, enjoyed square footage of homes that you and I strive our entire lives for, and now they want to be bailed out?

FUCK THAT!

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Eddie Vedder Sings His 'Grievance' to Big Oil

Who gave Eddie Vedder the congressional Democrats' talking points on the evils of Big Oil and offshore drilling? (Hard to Imagine.)


The Pearl Jam lead singer went on a tear during his concert Monday night at D.C.'s Verizon Center about the GOP's proposed plan to lift the ban on offshore drilling, the "corporate" mentality of the Bush administration, all the tens of millions of acres of federal oil reserves that U.S. oil companies are allegedly sitting on while Americans suffer at the gas pump, and yadda, yadda, yadda.

Sleuth informants say there was some muffled booing, even though the show, by all accounts, was so spectacular that everyone forgave Vedder's political preachiness. Especially since most Pearl Jam fans have come to expect it from the sultry baritone rocker, who has become almost as well known for his passionate anti-Bush tirades as for his music.

Concert goers say Vedder told his adoring audience that he had just been informed by "a couple of reliable sources" in town that oil companies are "sitting on 40 million acres" of federal land that could be drilled for oil, just so they can keep supplies low and prices and profits high.

(Actually, Eddie, that's 68 million acres of federal oil reserves, according to the Democrats who have been talking up their "use it or lose it" proposal to bar oil firms from bidding on new leases until they start tapping the acreage they already have.)

Oh Jesus – Water Walking – Christ.  This asshole is the same one who threatened to leave America if Bush was elected in 2004.  Of course, he didn’t.  This is the stereotypical rock star, thinking his shit doesn’t stink and trying to tell everyone how to vote and how to think.

He's leaning toward Green Party candidate Ralph Nader, though he's reluctant to steal votes from Al Gore. A strong proponent of abortion rights, Vedder says, "With three Supreme Court positions opening in the next administration, I'm frightened to think of a Republican in office, especially one raised by a father who was in the CIA. I'm moving to a different country if little Damien II gets elected."

You lied to people, and threw a temper tantrum like a child.  You didn’t get your way, but you weren’t man enough to follow through on your word.  So, you could tell me that the sky is blue, and while it may be true, I’ll simply tell you to go fuck yourself, you lying coward.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Dodd denies mortgage wrongdoing

Sen. Chris Dodd said Monday that the controversy over two loans he received will not compromise his ability to lead Congress' efforts to ease the subprime mortgage meltdown.

Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, also repeated that he received no special treatment from Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC, Fortune 500) His comments came before a speech to the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce.

"No. I don't think so at all," Dodd told The Associated Press, when asked if the mortgages he received would affect his high-profile role in seeking to stem the nation's housing foreclosure crisis.

Conde Nast Portfolio's Web site first reported more than a week ago that Countrywide made two loans at special rates to Dodd in 2003 to refinance homes in Washington and East Haddam, Conn.

The loans were reportedly part of a "V.I.P." program that gave preferential rates to "friends" of the company's chairman and chief executive, Angelo Mozilo. Several other notable politicians were participants in the program, the magazine said.

Dodd said on Monday that he and his wife refinanced their homes like millions of Americans did at the time and got a "market rate."

So, “market rate” eh?  How is it that the “market rate” was different for you and only a few people in the “VIP” program?  That’s not “market rate” at all.  But please, continue to lie and blow smoke:

Dodd said he would have "walked away from it in a New York minute" if he had believed he was getting a special deal from Countrywide, a leading subprime lender at the center of the mortgage meltdown.

Well now that you’ve seen that you WERE getting a special deal from Countrywide, there’s an easy fix:  Refinance at a higher rate.  But of course, you won’t do that.  You’re either a liar, an idiot or both.  You’ll fit in well with Hillary.

Any of my Democratic readers care to counter argue with me on this one?  I’d LOVE to hear someone defend this creep.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Hillary Wants Help

Her presidential bid may have ended two weeks ago, but Hillary Clinton is still on the hunt for campaign cash.

The New York Democrat is well over $20 million in debt, nearly half of which Clinton loaned herself personally earlier in the year when her campaign was virtually broke and faced life-or-death primary contests.

When it comes to recovering her personal loan, it's a race against the clock.

Under campaign finance laws spearhead by current presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, Clinton must pay herself back before the party's convention in late August, or else she is only allowed to receive $250,000.

So, let me get this straight.  She loaned herself millions of dollars, KNOWING that it’s possible to only get back $250k in repayment under the rules, and now she’s scrambling, and asking people who’ve already donated, for MORE money? 

The fucking NERVE of some people.  You mismanaged the money, and now you want people to fork over money to bail YOU out of the mess you created?  This is the kind of mentality that almost got the Democratic nomination AND possibly the White House.

Still think she would have been a good President?  She’s the one who wanted Universal Health Care and a ton of other programs that cost BILLIONS of dollars that most likely would have been just as mismanaged as her campaign.

Sorry Hillary, you knew the risks of your “loan”, and now you have to pay the piper.

Besides, didn’t your husband earn over $100 MILLION dollars in speaking fees?  If you can’t spare $10 million out of that insane amount of money, you’re an idiot, greedy, or both.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Who’s To Blame For Oil Prices?

Near-record oil prices could quickly fall by half if Congress were to rein in speculators, according to testimony Monday from a hedge fund manager and oil company adviser on Capitol Hill.

Michael Masters, of Masters Capital Management, told a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee that - with greater regulation - oil prices could drop to $65 or $70 a barrel within about 30 days.

"That's half of where prices are today, and gas prices would reflect that," he said.

Roger Diwan, an adviser to oil companies at Washington, D.C.-based PFC Energy, agreed that regulation could lead to a drop in prices. He said it would take no more than 30 days for speculation in the oil market to decrease and gas prices to fall.

With more regulation, "prices will reflect closer the marginal cost of producing oil," Diwan said.

The testimony came as Congress, reflecting some sentiment among the public, blamed Wall Street traders for record oil and gasoline prices.

While I do want oil prices to go down, I am very leery about regulation.  It could be a bad idea, and other’s think so as well:

But the head of the agency that regulates U.S. commodity futures said increasing the amount of money speculators need to put up to buy an oil contract - something the agency can do now in emergencies - could have unintended consequences.

"Changing margin requirements may drive businesses elsewhere to London and over-the-counter markets," said Commodity Futures Trading Commission Acting Chairman Walter Lukken. "I'm not sure it would get [index traders] out of the market," he said.

Lukken warned that raising margins could drive traders elsewhere, with Tokyo or Hong Kong market as beneficiaries.

So, Congress regulates the oil speculation market, traders move to London, Tokyo, or any other exchanges, and continue to drive up the price of oil.  Then, you have all these traders who aren’t being taxed on the money that they were making in the US.  So, you haven’t solved one problem and created another.

Unintended consequences indeed.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Monday, June 23, 2008

Oh The Humanity!

Things get rapidly more expensive, so people will stop buying $5 cups of coffeeChildren will have to walk to school!

It’s called living below your means people.  Is it really that difficult?  Kids walking to school means they get exercise, which means they are healthier AND they aren’t at the doctor’s office as much.

If you live below your means, bumps in the economic road like this one doesn’t effect you NEARLY as much.  For example, I don’t drink Starbuck’s coffee, because I hate coffee.  I like Coke Zero, cherry flavor.  I drink 2-3 cans a day.  At it’s most expensive, that’s about a buck to a buck and a half a day.  EASILY affordable.

I drive a 2005 Honda Civic.  I don’t have a trendy mini, smart car, acura, or any other “flavor of the month” car.  It’s reliable and gets me from point a to point b with reasonable gas mileage. 

I don’t live in a big house.  Granted, it is a 4 bedroom, 2,100 sq. ft. home, and many people would consider that “big”, but I could EASILY afford a home twice this size.  But I look out for the future;  my retirement.

I’m not going to be staring down the barrel of 60 and wondering if I need to work until I’m 65 to afford to be able to live.  I’ve already got the wheels in motion to make significantly more money, so that I may retire in comfort and be able to do all the things I’ve wanted to do, like travel to exotic places, buy expensive items, and enjoy my golden years with a 19 year old stripper…..ok, so the wife may not go for that last one.

But the point is, is that people are so used to “instant gratification” that they take their eye off the big picture.  If you want instant gratification, that’s fine, but don’t expect my tax dollars to pay for your lack of planning when you hit retirement age.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

FEMA’s Doing Well

When floodwaters knocked out the water treatment plant in Mason City, Iowa, FEMA rolled into town and promptly set up an account with a Pepsi bottler to supply bottled water. Then FEMA officials moved into a vacant store and began handing out the stuff.

"We saw different FEMA people in and out," City Administrator Brent Trout said. "We really started seeing FEMA people showing up to see what was going on in town and putting out the word on flood assistance."

Nearly three years after Hurricane Katrina turned FEMA into a punchline, many homeowners, politicians and community leaders in the flood-stricken Midwest say that so far, the agency is doing a heckuva job—and they mean it.

FEMA’s doing a good job with the flooding in Iowa.  I’m not kidding.  Stop laughing!

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

IAEA Chief: “Iran about 6 months to year from bomb”

Muhammad Al-Baradei: If Iran wants to turn to the production of nuclear weapons, it must leave the NPT, expel the IAEA inspectors, and then it would need at least... Considering the number of centrifuges and the quantity of uranium Iran has...

Interviewer: How much time would it need?

Muhammad Al-Baradei: It would need at least six months to one year. Therefore, Iran will not be able to reach the point where we would wake up one morning to an Iran with a nuclear weapon.

Interviewer: Excuse me, I would like to clarify this for our viewers. If Iran decides today to expel the IAEA from the country, it will need six months...

Muhammad Al-Baradei: Or one year, at least...

Interviewer:... to produce [nuclear] weapons?

Muhammad Al-Baradei: It would need this period to produce a weapon, and to obtain highly-enriched uranium in sufficient quantities for a single nuclear weapon.

[...]

 

So, he admits that Iran could move towards a weapon and be there within 6-12 months?  Anyone else alarmed by this?  Everyone else is talking about Iran getting it within 5-10 years.  This is the head of the IAEA, you know, the guys in CHARGE of finding this stuff out?

But on the flip side, these guys also didn’t know about the Syrian nuclear site until it was splashed across the front page of CNN, so I have little faith that they’ll DO anything about it.

U.N. nuclear inspectors headed on Monday for an alleged nuclear site in Syria that the United States says housed a secretly built reactor nearing completion when it was bombed by Israel nine months ago, a diplomat said.

Syria denies it has any covert nuclear weapons program and says the Israelis hit an ordinary military structure being built at al-Kibar, in the northeastern desert.

Neither Syria nor the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has issued any information about the visit of the inspectors since they arrived in Damascus on Sunday.

"The visit (to the alleged nuclear site) is today," said a senior diplomat in Europe familiar with the IAEA.

The team led by Olli Heinonen, head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog's global inspectorate, was also due to hold talks with Syrian officials before returning to Vienna on Wednesday.

Syria's silence on the visit, which it agreed with the IAEA on June 5, indicates how sensitive the issue is for President Bashar al-Assad, who has yet to retaliate for the Israeli raid.

The IAEA put Syria on its proliferation watch list in April after receiving intelligence photographs from the United States said to show a reactor that could have yielded plutonium, a nuclear bomb fuel.

Washington said Syria, an ally of Iran whose own nuclear program has been under IAEA investigation since 2003, had almost completed the plant with North Korean help. Pyongyang evaded IAEA checks and test-exploded a nuclear device in 2006.

Syrian officials have accused the United States of fabricating evidence in collusion with Israel, believed to be the Middle East's only nuclear-armed power.

U.S. nuclear analysts say satellite images since the Israeli strike show the bombed site had been razed and a new building erected there, perhaps to cleanse traces of nuclear activity.

Syria has resisted IAEA requests to visit three other sites to check for facilities that would be necessary for the alleged reactor but which are missing from the U.S. images of al-Kibar, diplomats in Vienna say. Damascus describes the three sites as conventional military bases irrelevant to the IAEA inquiry.

Damascus has denied concealing anything from the IAEA in possible violation of its Non-Proliferation Treaty obligations.

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei has condemned the Israeli raid and criticized the United States for failing to share its intelligence material on Syria with his agency much earlier.

But he has dampened expectations that the IAEA will find conclusive evidence so long after the September 6 bombing.

"It is doubtful that we will find anything there now, assuming there was anything there in the first place."

Of course.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Here’s The Problem

John McCain is hoping to solve the country's energy crisis with cold hard cash.

The presumed Republican nominee on Monday proposed a $300 million government prize to whoever can develop an automobile battery that far surpasses existing technology. The bounty would equate to $1 for every man, woman and child in the country, "a small price to pay for helping to break the back of our oil dependency," McCain said at Fresno State University.

McCain said such a device should deliver power at 30 percent of current costs and have "the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars."

The Arizona senator also proposed stiffer fines for automakers who skirt existing fuel-efficiency standards, as well as incentives to increase use of domestic and foreign alcohol-based fuels such as ethanol.

In addition, a so-called Clean Car Challenge would provide U.S. automakers with a $5,000 tax credit for every zero-carbon emissions car they develop and sell.

Sounds great right?  Sounds fine to me.  It gives a financial appeal to battery companies, it’s a relatively small price to pay for what it can deliver, AND it’s a LOT of money for a company that can deliver this.  The problem?  It’s being proposed by McCain.

So, it’s being roundly ignored by the media.  However, if OBAMA were to suggest it, then it would be across the front pages of every newspaper in the country.  So far, I’ve only seen it on a few places.

Go to www.msnbc.com, and you won’t find it on the front page ANYWHERE.  At least CNN has it on the front page, but you won’t hear kind words from places that openly support Obama.

How about we cut through the bullshit and make something that will work, work well, AND will meet all the needs we currently have?

 

I think I have a solution:

 

There’s a small car company that makes cars that run on compressed air.  Sounds fine so far right?  There are air filters in each car to help purify the air so particulates don’t get into the engine like any other engine.  So, you would be literally cleaning the air as you drove around.  Longer trips?  Pair that with a VERY small gas engine that would only power an air compressor to “refuel” the tanks.

No batteries to take hours to recharge, you could have special air tanks at gas stations to “fill up” a car within minutes.  With electric cars, you’d have to have ENORMOUS amounts of energy to recharge an electric car within a reasonable amount of time (say 10 minutes or less).  At the end of the life of the batteries, you’d have to deal with recycling them.  You don’t have that problem with an air car.

So, you can fill up at a normal gas station with a regular air compressor to a certain degree, fill up with a special air compressor, or fill up with gas.  Over time, gas gets phased out when special air compressors become more and more common.

Then, you find yourself with a car that’s almost completely pollution free (you might need a small amount of oil for lubrication of parts).

But some people will say “hey, all you’re doing is moving pollution”, but that’s where they are wrong.  With an air car, I can get my air from literally anywhere, and power it from any power source, (wind, solar, etc).  Plus, when a power plant gets an upgrade for environmental reasons, ALL cars get an upgrade.  However, with gasoline, unless you swap out the engine, that car NEVER gets an upgrade.

It’s not that hard people.  You just have to WANT to make it happen.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Saturday, June 21, 2008

CNN Whitewash

Ugh.  I really hate it when people try to gloss over something as heinous as a terrorist group.  But the "Arab guy" at CNN does his best:

CNN: Why is the American decision not to work with Hamas such an issue in the Arab world?

Zakaria: The U.S. appears hypocritical to much of the Arab world. The U.S. has been trumpeting the importance of democracy to Arab countries world and has insisted on elections in Gaza. When Hamas, a faction they did not support, won, many Arabs felt the U.S. did not accept the victory and has attempted to strangle what they see as a burgeoning democracy.

CNN: How much of a difference does this make?

Zakaria: By the U.S. isolating Hamas from commerce and contact with the outside world, we are strengthening the forces of fundamentalism and extremism in Gaza. By all accounts, Hamas is stronger now than it was six months ago.

CNN: Do you expect any progress on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process restarted in Annapolis?

Zakaria: No. With President Bush's approval rating under 30 percent and Prime Minister Olmert's at under 3 percent and President Abbas' somewhere in the middle, they don't have the public support to accomplish this. They can sign a piece of paper, but it won't mean anything and won't have the political capital needed to accomplish anything substantive.

CNN: Is Israel doing the right thing by denying visas to Gaza's Fulbright scholars?

Zakaria: No, nor do many Israelis agree with the decision. The chairman of the Israeli Knesset Education Committee remarked, "Preventing students in Gaza from studying is reminiscent of a painful point in Jewish history. We are a nation that for years was prevented from studying; how can we do the same thing to another people? Trapping hundreds of students in Gaza is immoral and unwise."

CNN: Can the U.S. do much about it?

Zakaria: When I spoke with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for this week's show, she said the U.S. was unhappy with the decision and hoped it would be resolved. She noted that these students had been granted visas by the U.S. State Department. They had gone through an extensive clearance process to be granted those visas.

 

Yes, Hamas is just a "faction they did not support" and not a murderous group of "people" who put bombs on city buses, attack civilians, fire rockets into Israel, and are generally bad guys.

Let's not mention ANY of that in your article Zakaria, we wouldn't want people to get the facts about your "faction".

Idiot.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Obama Showing Reverend Wright Tendencies

Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama said on Friday he expects Republicans to highlight the fact that he is black as part of an effort to make voters afraid of him.

"It is going to be very difficult for Republicans to run on their stewardship of the economy or their outstanding foreign policy," Obama told a fundraiser in Jacksonville, Florida. "We know what kind of campaign they're going to run. They're going to try to make you afraid.

"They're going to try to make you afraid of me. He's young and inexperienced and he's got a funny name. And did I mention he's black?"

 

What kind of lame assed bullshit is this?  Tell me Barack, when did John McCain use race in this campaign?  You and your "spiritual advisor" have brought up race.  Hillary Clinton has brought up race.  John McCain hasn't.  You're starting to sound like Reverend Wright in his "blame whitey" rhetoric.

He said he was also set for Republicans to say "he's got a feisty wife," in trying to attack his wife Michelle.

"We know the strategy because they've already shown their cards. Ultimately I think the American people recognize that old stuff hasn't moved us forward. That old stuff just divides us," he said.

If she's out there making speeches for you, she's fair game.  If she's at political rallies and LEADING them, she's fair game.  You're being attacked on the issues and your experience level, and you're not liking it because it'll prove Republicans right.  You bring up race to make it APPEAR that Republicans are the bad guys, when it's your failed policies that are what's really being attacked.  When you are backed into a corner, you play the race card.  That makes YOU a racist.  When you do so, you're no better then race mongers Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.  Professional con-men and perpetual "I'm offended" people.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Friday, June 20, 2008

The Following People Have Betrayed You

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll437.xml

Take a look at the “Yea” votes.  Those people have dishonored the Constitution and your rights.

Remember this when they come up for re-election.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

At Least SOMEONE’S Paying Attention

California's director of adult prisons is recommending against "compassionate release" for a terminally ill former Manson family member, a spokeswoman said.

Susan Atkins is led from a Los Angeles grand jury room after her indictment in the 1969 "Manson murders."

Suzan Hubbard, director of the Division of Adult Institutions, decided that Susan Atkins' request should not be sent to the sentencing court for consideration, said Terry Thornton, spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Hubbard's recommendation is advisory and will not necessarily prevent Atkins' release.

While I can’t argue that the Mrs. Hubbard is wrong, I certainly would hope that the director would have a good portion of say in such matters.

But let’s take a look at Susan Atkins’ crime.  She stabbed to death an 8 month pregnant woman.  When the woman, Sharon Tate, BEGGED for her life and the life of her baby, she was told “I don’t care about you or your baby” and slit her throat.

But let’s not dwell on that shall we?  Let’s whitewash her crime like CNN does:

Atkins is a born-again Christian, according to a Web site maintained by her husband. During her incarceration, the site says, Atkins has worked to help at-risk youth, victims of violent crimes and homeless children.

Unless she cures cancer, AIDS, or tells me where Bin Laden is, she can rot in jail forever.

Atkins, like family leader Charles Manson, received a death sentence. Her punishment was changed to life in prison when the California Supreme Court ruled the state's death penalty unconstitutional in 1972.

Life in prison means LIFE IN PRISON.  If California hadn’t had had its momentary lapse in judgement, you’d be DEAD and buried long ago Susan.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

The Lowest Form Of Scum

Take a good, hard look at the “man” on the left.  He’s accused of shooting a pregnant bank teller in the stomach and murdering her two unborn twin girls.

Police on Friday announced the arrests of two men in connection with the shooting of a pregnant bank teller during an April robbery that resulted in the loss of the twins she was carrying.

Brian Kendrick (pictured, left), 29, was arrested on charges of attempted murder, robbery, two counts of feticide and possession of a handgun. Aaron Stewart (pictured, right), 28, was arrested on a charge of conspiracy to commit robbery. The men were taken into custody late Thursday and early Friday, police said.

A break in the case came from a tip specifically phoned to Marion County Sheriff Frank Anderson's home on June 9, the sheriff said. That anonymous witness provided information that led to a series of other witnesses who police grilled before making the arrests.

"A citizen had the confidence to call me at my home and say they wouldn't talk to anybody else but me," Anderson said.

The article names the woman and shows her photo.  I won’t be naming her or showing her picture, as I can only imagine the amount of pain and humiliation that is involved in a crime of this magnitude.

Of course, we can’t rush to judgement and these “men” will stand trial.  However, if they did indeed do this, there’s no level of hell that these two shouldn’t suffer.

If they did this, they murdered babies.  I can’t think of a more horrendous crime. 

I’d HIGHLY recommend you not read the linked article just so you don’t have to look at this poor woman’s face and see the pain in her eyes.  I only link to it to keep my journalistic integrity.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Congress About To Pass UnConstitutional Law

CQ reports (sub. req.) that "a final deal has been reached" on FISA and telecom amnesty and "the House is likely to take up the legislation Friday." I've now just read a copy of the final "compromise" bill. It's even worse than expected. When you read it, it's actually hard to believe that the Congress is about to make this into our law. Then again, this is the same Congress that abolished habeas corpus with the Military Commissions Act, and legalized George Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program with the "Protect America Act," so it shouldn't be hard to believe at all. Seeing the words in print, though, adds a new dimension to appreciating just how corrupt and repugnant this is:

The provision granting amnesty to lawbreaking telecoms, Title VIII, has the exact Orwellian title it should have: "Protection of Persons Assisting the Government." Section 802(a) provides:

[A] civil action may not lie or be maintained in a Federal or State court against any person for providing assistance to an element of the intelligence community, and shall be properly dismissed, if the Attorney General certifies to the district court of the United States in which such action is pending that . . . (4) the assistance alleged to have been provided . . . was --
(A) in connection with intelligence activity involving communications that was (i) authorized by the President during the period beginning on September 11, 2001, and ending on January 17, 2007 and (ii) designed to prevent or detect a terrorist attack, or activities in preparation of a terrorist attack, against the United States" and

(B) the subject of a written request or directive . . . indicating that the activity was (i) authorized by the President; and (ii) determined to be lawful.

So all the Attorney General has to do is recite those magic words -- the President requested this eavesdropping and did it in order to save us from the Terrorists -- and the minute he utters those words, the courts are required to dismiss the lawsuits against the telecoms, no matter how illegal their behavior was.

That in of itself is bad enough, but here’s where it gets sticky:

No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

That means that Congress can’t pass a law that is retroactive.  Every member of Congress that votes for this is voting against their pledge to uphold the Constitution, and is selling out American’s right to privacy. 

Anyone who does that is guilty of treason.When I get a list of who votes for it, I’ll be sure to pass it along and make those who did world famous in their cowardice.

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Congress And The White House Are Giving Away Your Rights

House and Senate leaders agreed yesterday on surveillance legislation that could shield telecommunications companies from privacy lawsuits, handing President Bush one of the last major legislative victories he is likely to achieve.

The agreement extends the government's ability to eavesdrop on espionage and terrorism suspects while effectively providing a legal escape hatch for AT&T, Verizon Communications and other telecom firms. They face more than 40 lawsuits that allege they violated customers' privacy rights by helping the government conduct a warrantless spying program after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The breakthrough on the legislation came hours after the White House agreed to Democratic demands for domestic spending additions to an emergency war funding bill. Taken together, the bills -- two of the last major pieces of legislation to be approved by Congress this year -- suggest that Bush still wields considerable clout on national security issues but now must acquiesce to Democratic demands on favored domestic priorities to secure victory.

The war spending bill, for example, includes $162 billion for the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and an additional $95 billion worth of domestic spending on programs such as unemployment insurance and higher-education benefits for veterans. Bush, who had threatened for months to veto the legislation, said he will sign it.

Leading Democrats acknowledged that the surveillance legislation is not their preferred approach, but they said their refusal in February to pass a version supported by the Bush administration paved the way for victories on other legislation, such as the war funding bill.

"When they saw that we were unified in sending that bill rather than falling for their scare tactics, I think it sent them a message," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). "So our leverage was increased because of our Democratic unity in both cases."

Under the surveillance agreement, which is expected to be approved today by the House and next week by the Senate, telecoms could have privacy lawsuits thrown out if they show a federal judge that they received written assurance from the Bush administration that the spying was legal.

The proposal marks a compromise by Republicans and the Bush administration, which had opposed giving federal judges any significant role in granting legal immunity to the phone companies.

The legislation also would require court approval of procedures for intercepting telephone calls and e-mails that pass through U.S.-based servers -- another step that the White House and GOP lawmakers previously resisted.

"It is the result of compromise, and like any compromise it is not perfect, but I believe it strikes a sound balance," said House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (Md.), the lead Democratic negotiator in talks between lawmakers and the White House.

But overall, the deal appears to give Bush and his aides, including Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey and Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, much of what they sought in a new surveillance law.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto called the measure "a bipartisan bill" that "will give the intelligence professionals the long-term tools they need to protect the nation, and liability protection for those who may have assisted the government after the 9/11 attacks."

The sharpest critics of the administration's surveillance policies were not mollified. Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) said the legislation "is not a compromise; it is a capitulation."

"Allowing courts to review the question of immunity is meaningless when the same legislation essentially requires the court to grant immunity," he said.

Caroline Frederickson, a lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union, said, "The telecom companies simply have to produce a piece of paper we already know exists, resulting in immediate dismissal."

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), who has opposed retroactive immunity for the companies, said he was reviewing the legislation. "There have been, from what I see, some improvements," he said yesterday. "There's good things in this bill."

 

In other words, Democrats caved on one of the most important Constitutional rights;  The right to privacy.  Congratulations Democrats, is this the kind of Congress that you had hoped for?  Telecommunication companies BROKE THE LAW and you don't even have enough backbone to do anything about it.  I'm disgusted with Republican leaders right now over it.  Instead, you guys decide to cave in order to get other programs that you wanted passed.

You deserve this Congress.  I hope you're proud.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Nothing To See Here. Move Along

Give Senator Christopher Dodd credit for nerve. On Tuesday, the very day he finally admitted knowing that Countrywide Financial regarded him as a "special" customer, the Connecticut Democrat also announced that he was bringing to the Senate floor a housing bailout sure to help lenders like Countrywide.

[Christopher Dodd]

How much will Countrywide benefit from Mr. Dodd's rescue? The Senator's plan allows mortgage lenders to dump up to $300 billion of their worst loans on to taxpayers via a new Federal Housing Administration refinancing program, provided the lenders are willing to accept 87% of current market value. The program will be most attractive to lenders and investors holding subprime and slightly-less-risky Alt-A loans made during the height of the housing bubble in 2006 and 2007.

 

Even for the loans Countrywide has already packaged and sold, the company would still benefit from the bailout. That's because Countrywide continues to service the loans, and every loan that goes bad means increased costs for the servicer.

Wow, So much for “getting rid of the culture of corruption” eh Nancy Pelosi?  You now have TWO possibly corrupt members of Congress on your watch (William Jefferson is the other) and you’ve done NOTHING about it?  As for Dodd?  He can’t possibly think that people wouldn’t notice this “quid pro quo” can he?

This is a BLATANT conflict of interest at best, and a sign of corruption at worst.  If Dodd was a man of honor, which it appears he’s not, he’d recuse himself from all of this to avoid the obvious conflict of interest.  Even Republicans have noticed.

Yesterday, nine Senate Republicans led by South Carolina's Jim DeMint sent a letter asking Majority Leader Harry Reid to delay consideration of Mr. Dodd's housing bailout bill in light of its benefits for Countrywide – and Countrywide's benefits for Mr. Dodd.

Of course, they are asking King Democrat Harry Reid, so don’t hold your breath on this one.

Is it possible that Dodd really didn’t ask for this and Countrywide did it as a “wink wink” move?  Of course, but he HAD to have seen this coming when he refinanced.  If he didn’t, he’s an idiot who shouldn’t be in office anyway.

 

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com